There are few greater luxuries in life than a piping hot bath. I shall never
forget the deep relief of a tub laced with tea tree and lavender oil after
the birth of my first child, or the joy of a peaty soak in soft Jura water
after a hair-raising tussle with the Corryvreckan whirlpool. There is
something about submerging the body in warm water that both calms and
revives the mind.

In recent years, the delights of bathing have been made all the more piquant
by the fact that baths have become a symbol of unecological profligacy, the
kind